The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1887-01-26
THE GRASSY ROAD.
A Plea for Country Beauties which Mod
ern Fashions Tend to Obifterate.


ern Fashions Tend to Obliterate.
would say a few earnest words in
intercession for a patient, venerable
neighbor of ours and YOURS, who mas
few champions. who suffers in silence,
who is fast becoming discouraged at the
treatment of his thaukless posteritv.
and who thus. year by year, is yielding
up his hold among Us. Country people
everywhere among the hills. let me in
troduce to YOU the .'old grassy road, /"
the mountain turnpike" the old
wood road, the "lane' thus to be-
speak the aid of the local vocabulary in
liking the identity | would bring to your
mInd-for there is an .'old Marlborough
road" in every town; if not, thea more :
the pity.
These ancient highways spread like a
net over our New England hills, a net
whose meshes are fast being lost among
the growth which has sprung up around
them. These old roads are all akin
essentially the same everywhere. Pos
sessIng in spirit 3 common origin, the
history OF one is repeated in all 1t is
the track of the pioneer who opened up
the privileges we now enjoy; it is the
scar of a hard-fought battle; the mark
OF courage, fortitude, and heroic self
sacrifice. the road our forefathers trod.
and now in many instances the last elo-
quent visible link between the un-
worthy present and noble ancestral
memories which should be kept green.
1 would turn the eyes of the errant into
this forgotten path, and if possible keep
1t worn by reverent footsteps, and
guarded against the impending inva-
sion-that improving" hand OF pro
gress."
For it is manifest on every hand that
the acquisition of prosperity among
our country towns is fast crowdino
out our rural lanes and ancient roads,
tearing up their venerable landmarks,
obliterating their footprints, smoothing
away their mounds, and ploughing up
their ashes. This seems little less than
sacrilege-the deplorable fruit of that
rage for rural Improvement which is
now terror in the air. following in the
train of wealth and prosperity and
certain era in the history of every grow
ing town. Not but that in its proper
place, where it pertains and ministers
to individual home comforts, it may pe
highly proper and desirable; but when
1t sweeps the country not unlike
scourge of locusts, and at length drives
the wouid-be country" pilgrim or
native inhabitant 10 the limits of the
township to find bit of nature ..un-
adorned, . is it not time to cry haItP
Even the great metropolis hath
suburbs-a verdant rim which may be
reached by horse-cars.
In truth | wonder at the apathy with
which these ancient weed-grown foot
prints are viewed by the average village
mind. Even though blind to natural
beauty, is there no other awakening
touch to which such might respond
amid surroundings where every visible
feature is eloquent with that spirit which
makes the whole world kinp
1t has been my fortune recently to
have become possessed of an ideal gras-
sy road, or rather. should say, more
of q companionable charge
which it carries tenderly and INSOFAR
ably in its bosom This is nv
farm. 1t is way up there, the old road
along its edge and winding
away somewhere into the clouds. I
have never yet found its end, and never
shall. Ere this have known a certain
restlessness, but now | am content ito
breathe my native air in my own
ground" shall live out my appoint
ed days ere / exhaust this single path:
what need then of guide-books to Eu-
rope-to see the world, the Continent,
the Orient? | could sit within this
realm and fill my portfolio with them
all. Here is my cross and crescent.
What is the roar of Niagara compared
to this still small voice-the Alpen
peaks, the Matterhorn? Indeed, nv
grassy road has carried me much high
er than these.
The features of these old roads, as /
have said, are alike in all. How natur-
ally are the feet of the saunterer drawn
thitheri and even when he would take
his leave to seek some distant hunting
ground, or familiar wood or brook, how
irresistibly is he induced to procrasti-
nate!
This free, unrestrained meandering
course of the grassy road possesses
continuous irresistible charm-the ever
recurring vista with the invariable tam
talizing curve beyond. How does that
elusive beckoning curve coquette with
your fancy! What will be the prospect?
hill or valley, shimmering pond, rip
pling river, or billowing field. dusty
wood, or hazy tremulous distance of
blue hillsP There is all the mystery of
a tomorrow haunting that elusive
curve. Yes, a witching presence
hovers there; it is the spirit of the path,
Turing you on and on with ever-enticing
promises. never disappointing you.
never satisfying you. Now we shall
catch her in yonder closed covert
among the jumpers; there is no escape;
but 10! she has sped a hundred feet be-
yond. where in the guise of jutting
fence beam beneath the beckoning as
pens she points you still onward; and
what is that! well-known voice, now
strangely modulated to my fancy, cries
plainly now, if never before, Come.
more yet" Yes, ''more yet" this is the
very watchword of the grassy road.
There is segment of eternity in that
beautiful curve beyond.
The are all sorts of lessons as we
turn the leaves, lettering by the way
Sitting here under my favorite tree, as
is my wont. like Hamlet at the feet OF
hAc AAtcNAOCos S&AeNA NhAA AfSNAt%AA9
though be it admitted with spirit not
precisely akin to his. / await my enter
tainment. The play begins Immediate
lv. A bell note from the country rings
the curtain up; tanager fits by as
though to fire the foot-lights; and ere
we are fairly seated mysterious pres
ence steals upon the stage and rivets our
more ominous prologue
than / could wish. Note the sombre
garb. the stealthy approach. / recog-
nize him, and his is an unwelcome
shadow among these bushes But the
intruder has observed us, and is off
again as fast as his black wings can
take him. This is the bird whose fiocks
We observed scampering around the
nose of the COW pasturing in the field
near by. 1t is said that they seek the
insects aroused into activity by her crop
ping, but half suspect it is as much the
sweetness of that scented breath that
attracts them Htlltdns Hamilton Cab
son, in HGrper's Magazine for Norers-
Der.